History

Neumos Crystal Ball Reading Room, most often referred to as Neumos, is a mid-size music venue in Seattle, Washington. The space was originally opened as Moe’s Mo’Roc’N Café in 1994 and re-launched in 2003 under its current name (pronounced “new moe’s”).

We pride ourselves with an always relevant and carefully curated music calendar, outstanding light production, and a state-of-the-art sound system. The showroom features three full service bars, a second floor mezzanine, and a balcony that over looks the stage. We host a variety of national and local musicians who play genres across the spectrum.

Neumos also hosts several other neighborhood businesses. The complex includes The Runaway, and Barboza, a renovated, intimate showroom on the lower level.

Moe’s Mo Roc’n Café was created in 1992 from the desire to break away from convention, building the best sounding room and customer experience in a venue that was designed with the artist in mind. The venue quickly became known for its outrageous hospitality, spacious greenrooms, and artist-centric staff. Primarily because of this prominence, Moe’s became one of the top places for bands to launch their U.S. tours. By June of 1996 when Moe’s hosted the debut performance of Neil Young’s collaboration with Pearl Jam, Mirror Ball, many other platinum selling bands had used the venue as their launching pad including Bush, Oasis, Better Than Ezra, Goo Goo Dolls, and Garbage. The Presidents of the United States of America and The Jim Rose Circus Sideshow called Moe’s their home base, and played many memorable performances in the venue.

Some other memorable shows included a 40 person turn out for No Doubt’s first pass through town, a free Radiohead show that caused near riots when the room hit capacity, and one of several Flaming Lips shows that threatened to knock out the power around the block when tens of thousands of lights were instantaneously turned on during the Turn It On tour. Many famous actors, directors, athletes, and others made their way into Moe’s during those years, including President Bill Clinton when he made an appearance to see Jakob Dylan’s Wallflowers perform after a fundraiser at the Paramount.

Day in and day out, though, the heart of Moe’s was always the local music scene. It was a place where musicians met, worked, shared ideas, and launched careers. When Moe’s went out at the height of its success, many people were surprised and saddened. Yet, because Moe’s left the community wanting for more, Neumos was received with open arms when it rose from Moe’s ashes. Because of its unique stature as part of Seattle’s music community, the Experience Music Project purchased many of the architectural features of the club which one can still see today.